Chair with detachable footrest



Dec. 29, 1953 M. D. RECHLER 2,664,148

CHAIR WITH DETACHABLE FOOTREST Filed Feb. 11, 1950 .ATT 01PM Y Patented Dec. 29, 1953 CHAIR WITH DETAOHABLE FOOTREST Morton D. Rechler, New York, N. Y.', assignor to Itexart Metal Industries,,Inc., New York, N. Y.. a corporation of New York Application February 11, 1950, Serial No. 143,679

3 Claims. (Cl. 155-2165) This invention relates to chairs, and particularly to means for detachably connecting a footrest to the front portion of a chair frame,

Heretofore, it was the practice to provide a foot-rest with a pair of hooks which engaged over the cross oi the seat frame to hold the footrest in place. That type of attaching means was objectionable because the hooks did not afford a positive connection and were subject to easy accidental uncoupling.

Accordingly, it is one of the ob ects of this invention to provide connections of a more positive nature to insure that the foot-rest will remain in place until voluntarily uncoupled from the chair.

Another object is to provide a foot-rest frame having elastic properties which are utilized to hold the connectine means in operative position.

Another ob ect is to provide a foot-rest which is easy to couple and uncouple from the chair-by simple manipulation of the elastic frame, and. foldable to occupy small space when not in use.

A further obiect is to provide a foot-rest of pleasing appearance, contoured for com ort. and in which the parts will not catch in the clothmg.

Other obects and features of advantage will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawin s of this specification:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my new foot rest in combination with a chair.

Pic. 2 shows the foot-rest deta hed and folded.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the foot-rest connected to the front ed e of a seat frame, parts being broken away in. section.

Fir. i is a sectional detail of the catch and slot connection shown in Pie. 3.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of a slightly modified form of catch means.

7 is a detail of a slotted chair frame.

Fig, 8 is a further modified form of slot and catch connection embodyina the invention.

In th drawing there is shown in Fig. 1 a chair in which includes a seat frame I I havina a front cross member 12 adapted to sup ort the two ends 53 and I4 of a foot-rest I5. The outer end is of the foot-rest is held in its position of use by a pivoted supporting frame H.

The foot-rest I5 is formed from a length of tubular metal stock bent to provide a U-shape frame it havinc the side rails I9 and which are adapted to spring outward from each other as indicated by the arrows A to bring the neck portions or notches 2! of headed catch-elements 22 into ena'agement under spring pressure with the edges 23 formed at the ends of spaced slots 26 provided in the outer wall it of the tubular cross member IQ of the seat frame H. With the catch elements 22 thus engaged the two ends i3 and M are positively connected to theframework.

of the chair and can be released. only by forcing the two ends toward each other against the spring of the frame H3 sufiiciently to allow withdrawal oi the elements 22 from the slots at.

The headed elements 22 may be stamped or otherwise out from flat metal sheet and are preferably formed with a body portion 25 for reception in the ends it and it and may be secured by rivet 2'! passed through body portion 25, a pair of filler blocks 28, and openings in the respective ends of the frame l3. As shown in Fig. 4 the headed elements may be of dart-like formation with shoulders and ill disposed behind the inner wall surface oi the cross frame !2, to hold the catch in place. In this way the neck portion 2! acts in the capacity of a holdins notch.

The similar neck portion or notch at the opposite side of the catch element 22 is adapted to enrage the edqe 34 at the other end of slot 24 when excessive load is placed upon cover 35 forcing the rails is and 2c toward each other against the sprina action of the frame.

In the modified construction shown in 6 the catch element 22 has a slightly different shape to fit the rounded contour l2 of a seat frame having the slots 24 spaced farther apart.

In 8 a U-shape metal piece as is attached to the cross member 3? by riveting as indicated at 38, and has a pair of slots as previously described, one of which is shown at 3i! in this modification. It is thus possible to use the catch mechanism in connection with a cross frame of solid material such as wood.

Preferably the body portions 25 and the ends of side rails 19 and 2B are curved away as at to present smooth surfaces which will not cat h in the clothing.

The outer end l6 of frame It is pivoted to the upper ends 4| of supporting frame 21 by suitable fastening means such as bolts 42 which pass through the side rails i9 and 2a. This enables frame I! to be opened to its operative position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, or closed to the folded condition seen in Fig. 2. Spacers 43 may be used between rails 19. 2t and ends 45.

It will be noted that frame I8 has an upwardly rounded convexity 44, and the cover 35 conforms to this curvature. This gives additional comfort to the foot-rest and grace of line to the framework. When the foot-rest is open for use the bottom rail 45 of support Il rests upon the floor. Support I! may be preferably a U- shape frame having the rising side members 46 terminating in the ends 4|. The side members 45 are bent at 41 giving the upper portions of this frame a slight angulation with respect to the lower portions. This enables the upper portions 48 to contact the under sides 49 of the downwardly curving outer end 16 while the lower portions of frame 11 extend to the floor at less angulation.

It is seen in Fig. 2 that the supporting frame I! folds into the concavity 50 formed by the curvature of the side rails 19, 20, and extends under the curved cover 35 which spans the rails. The cover may consist of duck or other suitable material stitched at 51 to form loops 52, 53 engaging the rails.

This foot-rest is adapted for connection to any suitable chair, and in the present instance is shown applied to a sun chair having the seat frame H, front and rear legs 56 and 55, back frame 56, arm rests 5'1, and a seat covering 58 which extends from the top of the back frame to the front cross member l2 of the seat frame. The slots 24 may be located slightly beyond the side edges 59, 60 of the seat covering 58. The foot-rest frame may be of any material having a sufliciently springy quality to expand the rails I 9 and Z0 outward from each other after they have been slightly compressed against the spring action to enter the headed elements 22' in the slots 24. Cold drawn aluminum tubing is suitable for this purpose and has the advantage that it is light. The headed elements 22 may be secured to the terminal ends 13 and M in other ways such as by welding, and may be of various forms to detachably interlock with the slots in the chair frame. Also, the spring frame may be made to operate in the reverse direction to the arrows A, and other modifications may be made in the arrangement of the parts. It is to be noted in Fig. 5 that the top of cross member l2 be flush with the top surface of rail 25. This gives the framework a smooth upper surface next to the clothing. The cover 35 is designed to allow free manipulation of the spring frame during coupling and uncoupling of the headed elements 22 in the slots 24 and is preferably drum tight between the rails when the foot-rest is in its position of use on the chair. The frames are preferably of rectangular cross section although this is not essential. The rectangular tubing is used because it is more pleasing in appearance and is somewhat easier to process. If it is desired to use the spring frame to operate the side rails in the opposite direction,

that is, toward each other instead of away from 6 each other, the slots can be spaced accordingly to interlock with the heads. In that case the cover may be made loose enough to allow the necessary frame manipulation to enter the heads into the slots. The cover may also have elastic webbing or elastic threads in its weave to permit stretch and to take up slack. Various other modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a chair having a front cross member provided with horizontal spaced slots, a U-shaped spring frame forming a foot-rest and having oppositely disposed side rails which are adapted to spring apart, a fabric cover spanning the side rails, the terminal ends of the side rails being provided with notches which notched terminal ends enter the slots and are forced laterally in opposite directions against the outer ends of said slots when the side rails are released and spring apart, said fabric cover being brought to drum tight condition when said notched terminal ends are in spring pressed engagement against the outer ends of the slots.

2. In combination, a chair having a front cross member provided with horizontal spaced slots, a U-shaped spring frame forming a foot-rest and having oppositely disposed side rails which are adapted to spring apart, a fabric cover spanning the side rails, the terminal ends of the side rails being provided with notches which notched terminal ends enter the slots and define portions which are forced laterally in opposite directions against the outer ends of said slots when the side rails are released and spring apart, said fabric cover being brought to drum tight condition when said portions are in spring pressed engagement against the outer ends of the slots, said terminal ends being also provided with a second set of notches which define portions located to engage the opposite ends of said slots in the event that the first named portions are accidentally withdrawn as by excessive weight on the cover.

3. A combination according to claim 2 wherein said first named notches are located opposite the second named notches in the outer edges of fiat dart-like members adapted to enter the slots.

MORTON D. RECHLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 597,878 Crandall Jan. 25, 1898 1,236,517 Wemple Aug. 14, 1917 1,292,646 Reynolds Jan. 28, 1919 2,403,263 Collins July 2, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 470,477 Great Britain Aug. 16, 1937 598,275 Germany June 8, 1934 

